Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union, updated the testimony he gave last month in House Democrats’ secret impeachment inquiry.
He had earlier testified that Mr. Trump was clear that there was no quid pro quo for releasing U.S. military assistance.
You will hear in the media that in his update, which he sent to the committee on Monday, Mr. Sondland now says his memory has been refreshed and he did tell Ukrainian officials they needed to give Mr. Trump what he wanted to get the U.S. funds flowing.
“I now recall speaking individually with Mr. Yermak, where I said that resumption of U.S. aid would not likely occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks,” Mr. Sondland says.
Andriy Yermak is a top aide to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
You probably won’t hear the rest of the story, which proves the opposite.
MORE FAKE NEWS
The media and the Democrats have gone wild with speculation and exaggerations today about quid pro quo when nothing in the updated testimony indicates that.
Sondland didn’t know who stopped the aid or why. He made an “assumption.” The ambassador said he did not and still doesn’t know why the aid was held up.
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Democrats and the media are seizing on paragraph five of Sondland’s update, where he tells Mr. Yermak the aid may not be released without an anti-corruption statement.
Even *if* you think this is nefarious… Sondland admits in paragraph FOUR this was based on an assumption! https://t.co/OA7MRn5aGf
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 5, 2019
Seeing many overblown (and outright false) reports about Ambassador Sondland’s testimony. Here’s what he actually said.
1. I did not (and still don’t) know why aid was held up
2. I “PRESUMED” it was because of corruption
3. I told Yermak my assumptionSee paragraph 4 here: pic.twitter.com/STZ2vtrVsv
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 5, 2019
THIS IS THE FAKE NEWS THE NY TIMES AND SEN. CHRIS MURPHY ARE PUSHING, ALONG WITH MOST OF THE MSM
Nobody can pretend there’s any lingering debate over what happened. It’s over. Open and shut.
Today, the one guy who said there wasn’t a corrupt aid-for-interference deal, changed his story to say that in fact, there was an aid-for-interference deal. https://t.co/rUVIvfe7zB
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) November 5, 2019
THE PRESIDENT TOLD SONDLAND, NO QUID PRO QUO
Before sending that text, Ambassador Sondland had a phone call with the President.
Sondland asked President Trump “what do you want from Ukraine?”
The President said, “I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. I want Zelensky to do the right thing… to do what he ran on.” https://t.co/OHPUcli9Zz pic.twitter.com/HvkpxIgYwy
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) November 5, 2019
THERE IS CONFIRMATION
When asked about Gordon Sondland’s “no quid-pro-quo” text to Bill Taylor, Kurt Volker stated, “Gordon was repeating what we all understood.” – which was no quid-pro-quo. pic.twitter.com/VMmTIz6RFF
— RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) November 5, 2019
THERE WAS NO QUID PRO QUO, VOLKER SAID
I asked Volker: And in no way, shape, or form in either the readouts from the United States or Ukraine did you receive any indication whatsoever for anything that resembles a quid pro quo?
Volker: Correct pic.twitter.com/vdmJnSWPyo
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) November 5, 2019
I wonder who got to Sondland? what do the demoncraps have on him? this is pure BS…”refreshed” my ass
Never listen to the fake Liberal news media, because every hateful word that comes out of their mouth is nothing but lies they hear or fabricate. They have been doing that for hundreds of years, in favor of the DemoRAT party. I’ve been hearing that since I was a little kid in Puerto Rico. They’ve brainwashed every person on the island. Republicans in Puerto Rico are treated like dirt.
I wonder who got to him? obviously someone did, he changed his story after his “memory” got “refreshed”, gimme a break you MF’s
On local news, NBC, heard he said there was QPQ. On Rush earlier heard he was allowed to “change” his testimony to QPQ from earlier denial of same! OK for the dems, perjury for the GOP? This whole bunch of slime ball democrat criminals needs to be arrested and jailed as Traitors, facing the appropriate consequences!
Oh yes, now I do remember, there was a quid pro quo and thank you for the envelope full of money.
Yes, Biden did extort Ukraine. Trying to twist a conversation, and someone else’s opinion, to what was actually said in the phone call, needs a pretzel logic. Aid would be delayed, because with a new president, had to be sure, corruption wasn’t still going on, like with the last president. The last president is the one who fired the prosecutor, for Biden. Biden doesn’t get a pass because he wants to be president. Information/investigations are not crimes, and Biden could be a security risk , if he’s linked to any corruption in Ukraine. The whole thing is a farce. DOJ already said not a campaign aid violation. Mueller said, no court has ruled on the “value” of information, or even on investigations. As President , Trump can ask for help to cooperate with investigating possible crimes. If it happens to be Biden, so what.